Bottled Water - Smarten Up North America!



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 Within the past couple of years a significant change has been made in the North American beverage industry. It 2008 bottled water sales saw their first decline. This is good news for those concerned about the wasteful habit however there is still work to be done. Bottled water is still the best-selling beverage in North America. This is alarming to think about and it says a lot about our culture. Many may think that bottled water is better than pop and other sugary drinks but I’m not so sure.
The reason that this statistic is so alarming to me is because in North America we have access to FREE water! Right from our very own taps. In almost all instances it is just as safe, if not safer, than the water we buy. Some of the big bottled water companies just bottle our tap water and sell it right back to us. Quite frankly the fact that these companies found any success in our markets makes us look a bit stupid.
The key to their success is not the product, it’s the advertising. Bottled water companies use a few key strategies to trick us into buying. First of all they tell us that tap water is unsafe, and then they tell us their water taste better. Both of these ideas are proven to be false. Good thing we’re finally catching on.



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As we become more concerned with the treatment of our environment bottle water companies have come under scrutiny. They are so blatantly disrespectful of our world that even those who drink bottled water cannot deny it. To understand the process of how bottled water comes to be in your hand you can watch this video.

Bottled water is a ridiculous concept. So why do we still put up with it? Here are some statistics from the Wellington Water Watchers website.
It takes three times as much water to make a bottle than it does to fill one.
It’s one of the most polluting and least regulated industries on the planet.
Bottled water has less regulation than tap water does. I guess people just don’t think that much harm can come from a little bottle of water. In some respect they are right. The water is relatively harmless. Until it sits in a plastic bottle for a week and absorbs chemicals leaking from the plastic. I think it’s a good thing that bottles water has not only gone out of style but people are judged harshly for drinking it. As they should be. It’s downright irresponsible.
Now that the bottled water companies are sensing that the market is turning on them they’re trying out some new strategies. They advertise their corporate responsibility and general goodwill in efforts to bring back the customers. Making their bottles from less plastic, donating to NGOs, etc. They have made it into a competition and allowed people to forget the best option, water from their own taps.